


Still Some Bugs to Work Out

by me_llamo_nic



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, tragicomical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-05
Updated: 2011-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-15 10:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/160024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/me_llamo_nic/pseuds/me_llamo_nic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffybot still has some errors in her programming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Some Bugs to Work Out

**Title** : Still some bugs to work out.  
 **Characters/Pairing** : Buffybot, Dawn, Spike  
 **Rating** : PG  
 **Summary** : Buffybot still has some errors in her programming.  
 **A/N** : Written for the Minor Female Characters round of the Genfic_Minis LJ Community.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

                “This way,” I heard Dawn saying as we walked into the store.

                The sign on the door had said “Exit”, but the automated circuits had caused it to open for them anyway. Clearly there was some sort of error. I decided I would talk to Willow about it later; she knew lots about technical things like that.

                “Dunno how I got roped into this,” Spike muttered in a disgruntled way that managed to perfectly compliment his accent. Pleasure circuits fired tiny pulses.

                “Because it’s after dark,” Dawn insisted as we walked past aisle after aisle of groceries, “I need protection.”

                I read the signs: Bread, Rolls, Buns; Canned Soup, Pasta; Candy, Seasonal…

                I noted the locations of everything relative to the door and relative to each other. On future trips we would be able to shop with maximum efficiency and speed.

                “I think the Bot could handle the creepy crawlies,” Spike said to Dawn. “She’s got the slaying covered.”

                “I like slaying,” I told them cheerfully.

                “Did you really have anything better to do?” Dawn asked Spike, ignoring my response; she did that a lot.

                “And why are we shopping at night?” Spike questioned, ignoring Dawn’s response; he did that a lot too.

                “I want ice cream,” Dawn stated for the second time that night. I already knew that, but maybe Spike had low RAM, prompting Dawn to remind him of their task.

                Error.

                I checked the log. I’d forgotten that vampires, like humans, don’t actually have RAM. I checked my data banks, decided to call it a metaphor, and closed the error log.

                “Why didn’t you just put it on the list with the rest of the shopping?” Spike was very thorough. Obviously he wanted to shop with maximum efficiency too.

                “It’s called a craving,” Dawn explained. “You can’t anticipate these things.”

                “And I suppose I’m just here to satisfy your cravings?” Spike questioned.

                An auto-response fired before I’d finished processing. I tried to trace it, but its file path seemed to be improperly labeled. Or maybe parts of it were missing. I couldn’t find the file.

                I assessed the situation.

                Both Spike and Dawn had stopped in place. Spike looked confused and angry; Dawn was blushing and looking a little bit confused too.

                It must have been one of those programs.

                I noticed that a lady nearby had turned to look at me. Then she looked at Spike. Then back at me. I smiled a friendly smile at her.

                “Guess there’s still some bugs for Red to work out,” Spike mumbled.

                I checked references. “Red” was Willow because she had orange hair and people called that red. “Bugs” was a slang term for errors in technical functions. Willow needed to work out my bugs.

                It was definitely one of those programs.

                Dawn and Spike still seemed uncomfortable. I smiled a friendly smile at them.

                “Guess so,” Dawn muttered, agreeing with Spike.

                “Buffy-” the two syllables, my name, earned my full attention as Spike spoke them, “-bot.” They always added that on the end. “Be quiet until we leave the store,” Spike ordered, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. The lady who had stared had moved on in a hurry.

                I blocked the connections to the vocal circuits as I opened up a new error log about the auto-response. I logged that it was there, that the file path was corrupted so I didn’t know what it was, and Spike’s phrase: “Still some bugs to work out.”


End file.
